Since the first Roadkill Nights Powered by Dodge was held at the Pontiac Silverdome back in 2015, some sort of Grudge Match has been one of the key components of the event and this year, the new Dodge Charger is the focus of that program. While the racing program in general is the focus of most spectators, the Grudge Match has been a key attraction of the racing action, joining Big Tire and Small Tire to make up the broader racing program.
In the first year, the Grudge Match was a two-car shootout between Gas Monkey Garage and the Roadkill team and in the years following, it expanded to include more teams with varying rules and guidelines from year to year. For the 2026 Roadkill Nights Grudge Match, there were eight teams invited to compete and they each competed in a new Dodge Charger SixPack Scat Pack – some with 600 horsepower and some with over a thousand horsepower.
2026 Dodge Charger Grudge Match Explained
The rules for the 2026 Roadkill Nights Hurricane Grudge Match were simple. Each team was given a new Dodge Charger SixPack Scat Pack and $20,000, with three basic guidelines – they have to use the complete Dodge Charger, they have to use the Hurricane engine and they have to use the factory 8-speed transmission and all-wheel-drive system. This is an outlaw class, so the teams were free to do whatever they wanted to the car and components, so long as they had a full-bodied Dodge Charger with the Hurricane engine, 8-speed automatic and all-wheel-drive system when they hit the track at Roadkill Nights.
The teams did not share the full details of their builds, but in looking them over, it was clear that some teams obviously made an effort to stay within the $20,000 that they were given while others went so crazy with their build that it is all-but-certain that they invested more than $20,000 in the build. Some teams simply removed some weight, did some basic tuning and added fat drag radials while other teams had the bottom end of the engine reinforced with custom components, allowing them to run monster boost from bigger turbochargers. As a result, some teams had the track with ~600 horsepower while others were putting over a thousand horsepower to the ground.
That might sound crazy, having a 600 horsepower Dodge Challenger lining up with a 1,000 horsepower Dodge Charger, but in the end, one of the less-modified cars faced one of the more heavily modified cars in the finals.
The engine above is from Rob Dahm’s build, with a standalone ECU system in place to provide full engine tuning with the big turbo swap. Here is a look at the rest of the racing field.
Bryan Kiefer/Kies Motorsports
This blue Dodge Charger Scat Pack was built by Bryan Kiefer of Kies Motorsports and during the introduction, it was said that he wanted to show the potential of the factory components of the vehicle. It was fitted with a JB4 piggyback tuning device and a custom cold air intake, leading to around 600 horsepower, but to further the performance capabilities, the interior was stripped down to one seat and a dashboard, the transmission was tuned by the team at Pure and the stock rear wheels and tires were replaced by wider wheels and fat drag radials.
This was effectively the least modified vehicle in the field, but Kiefer drove this car to the finals.
Demi Bagby
Demi Bagby brought out the most eye-catching Dodge Charger in the 2026 Roadkill Nights Grudge Match. She kept her car buttoned-up for most of the event, so there were few chances to see what she has going on under the hood, but we do know that she worked with the modern Mopar experts at SRT Autoworks to deliver around 725 horsepower. Reaching that number required some sort of tuning device – be it a standalone system or piggyback like the JB4 – but she also had wide rear wheels with drag radials out back.
Titan Motorsports
Titan Motorsports has a long history of building high performance Japanese vehicles with turbocharged inline-six engines like the Toyota Supra and that was why they were chosen to be one of the shops included in this year’s Roadkill Nights Grudge Match. Their Dodge Charger Scat Pack was wrapped to resemble their record-setting Supra, the interior was gutted and fitted with a safety cage and a racing seat, and the stock wheels and tires were replaced with wide drag radials on lightweight wheels. It also has a parachute. Under the hood, they made changes on the intake and exhaust side, leading to an output of around 800 horsepower, with the help of a bottle of nitrous oxide mounted in the trunk and a standalone engine computer system for tuning.
Rob Dahm
If you closed the hood on Rob Dahm’s white Dodge Charger SixPack Scat Pack Grudge Match car, it might pass for a stock car with big rear wheels and tires. The issue is that it doesn’t have a hood, and based on how far the massive single turbocharger sticks up above the engine, I am guessing that the hood won’t fit without modifications. That big turbo swap, coupled with a standalone engine computer for tuning access, leads to around 800 horsepower.
Dave “Heavy D” Sparks
Dave “Heavy D” Sparks is best known for building monster diesel trucks with inline-six engines, but for the Roadkill Nights Grudge Match, he turned his attention to the gasoline-fed I6 in the new Dodge Charger. His car looks pretty stock from the outside with the exception of the graphics – he even has the stock wheels at all four corners for the competition – but it is far from stock under the hood. He does have the interior gutted with a safety cage and race seat, but the big turbo swap under the hood is the big story here, leading to around 900 horsepower.
John O’Malley/Boosted Motorsports
John O’Malley, owner of Boosted Motorsports, competed in last year’s Hurricane Grudge Match in an I6-swapped Dodge Viper, and he used that experience to build a Dodge Charger SixPack Scat Pack for this year’s event. O’Malley made changes to the engine internals and swapped to a big turbocharger coupled with JB4 tuning, leading to around a thousand horsepower. He also gutted the interior and added a safety cage, along with two racing seats on the inside and drag radials on beadlock wheels out back.
His experience with the Hurricane platform would pay off, as O’Malley would drive this car to the finals.
Jonathan Rimbo
Finally, Jonathan Rimbo built the bottom end of the Hurricane engine in his Dodge Charger Scat Pack, allowing him to run monster boost and making his car the most powerful in the field – delivering 1,064 wheel horsepower. Of course, he switched from the stock wheels and tires to a set of beadlocks wrapped in drag radials, along with removing weight from the interior.
Dodge Charger Grudge Match Results
The seven-car field lead to three rounds of racing, and with the uneven number of racers, one competitor had a bye run in each of the first two rounds…so they essentially got a free pass through the round. John O’Malley, who also competed in last year’s event in a Hurricane-powered Dodge Viper, did not get one of those bye runs, but that didn’t matter. O’Malley and his thousand-horsepower Dodge Charger SixPack Scat Pack handily beat Demi Bagby in round one and Rob Dahm in round two, before meeting Bryan Kiefer in the finals.
The final round was an interesting one, with one of the more heavily-modified cars taking on one of the cars that was closer to stock and, more importantly, way down on power. The Boosted Motorsports car is more or less fully built while the Kies Motorsports car has the interior removed, a wheel-and-tire package, a house-made intake, some tuning work and some transmission work, but the ended up going head-to-head for the final round.
However, Kiefer’s impressive run through the rounds came to an end when he lined up with John O’Malley. Just as it had done all day, the Boosted Motorsports Dodge Charger Scat Pack got off of the line quickly and made a hard pull down the track, beating the blue Kies Motorsports car and taking the Roadkill Nights 2026 Grudge Match win.
Click here for a look at our full Roadkill Nights 2026 coverage.
